Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

"You stay here," said the old man, letting go of Paul's sleeve. "On the right, the second door at the end. Follow Shahuru, Muad'di... Remember when you were Yusok." Paul's guide quickly disappeared into the darkness. Paul knew where his security officers were waiting, ready to grab the guide and take him somewhere for details.Paul hoped that the old Freeman would escape. The stars have appeared overhead.In the distance, on the other side of the shielding wall mountain, the No. 1 moon also shot bright light.But this is no open desert.In the desert, people can find their way home under the guidance of the stars.The old man had taken him to some strange place in the suburbs; that was all Paul knew.

The streets were covered with a thick layer of sand blown from the dunes that approached the city.At the end of the street, a single street lamp shone dimly, just enough light to make it clear that it was a dead end. The surrounding air smelled of retorts.That thing must not be tightly sealed, so that the stench is overflowing.The release of moisture into the night air is both dangerous and wasteful.How nonchalant my people have become, thought Paul, they are all water millionaires, completely oblivious to the sad days of Arrakis, when one man was killed by eight, and the murderer only wanted to get the body one-eighth of water.

Why am I so hesitant?Paul wondered.This is the second door from the end, you can tell it at a glance.The problem is, this has to be done with care and precision, so... I'm hesitant. Suddenly there was an argument in the corner to Paul's left.A woman was yelling at someone.The newly built side room is leaking dust, she scolded, waiting for the water to fall from the sky?If dust can get in, moisture can get out. After all, someone still remembers to save water, Paul thought. He walked down the street, the noise of the argument fading away behind him. Water falls from the sky!Paul thought.

Some Fremen have seen miracles like that on other planets.He had seen it himself, and had given orders to make the same miracle happen to Arrakis.Thinking about it now, these memories seem to belong to another person and have nothing to do with me.Rain, they call that spectacle.For a moment, he thought of the storms on the planet he was born on.On the planet Kaladan, dark clouds, lightning and thunder, the air is humid, big drops of wet raindrops beat on the skylight like a drum, and flow down from the eaves like a stream.The gutters carry this rainwater into the river.The turbid and swollen river flows through the royal orchard... The bare branches are wet with rain and glisten.

Paul walked down the street with his feet stuck in the shallow quicksand.For a moment, it looked like the mud of his childhood stuck to his shoes, but then he was back in this world of sand, back into the dusty, wind-sanded darkness.The future hung before him, mocking him.The dry life surrounded him, as if accusing him of sins.All this is done by you!You've made this civilization apathetic, full of informers, you've made a nation that solves everything with violence...everyday violence...endless violence--he hates it all. Stepping on rough sand and stones.He had seen them in visions.On the right appeared a dark rectangular doorway, black: the house in Orsham, the house chosen by fate.It was exactly like any other house around, but time rolled the dice and picked it, and it was instantly different from any other house.It is a singular place that will leave its name in the historical records.

He knocked on the door.The dim green light of the foyer peeked through the gaping door.A dwarf peeped out, a childlike figure with an old man's face, a ghostly figure he had never seen in a precognitive vision. "You are here." "Ghost" said.The dwarf stepped aside, without any awe in his actions, with a faint smile on his face, "Please come in! Please come in!" Paul hesitated.There are no gnomes in the vision, and everything else is exactly the same as his precognitive vision.Deviations in the illusion are insignificant and do not affect the reality of the illusion's subject stretching into an endless future.It was these deviations that gave him courage and hope.He glanced at the sky above the street behind him.His moon floated out of the shadows like a shining milky pearl.The moon haunted him and bewildered him.How did it fall?

"Come in." The dwarf invited again. Paul went in, only to hear the door slam behind him, locking in the moisture-proof seal. The dwarf led the way in front of him, his paws pattering on the floor.He opened a delicate grille door, walked into the covered courtyard, and pointed, "They are waiting for you, Your Majesty." Your Majesty, thought Paul.That is, he knows who I am. Before Paul could ponder this new discovery carefully, the dwarf had already slipped away from a nearby corridor.Hope whirled in Paul like a wild wind.He walked across the yard. It was a dark, gloomy place, with a depressing, sickening smell.The atmosphere of this courtyard made him cringe a little.Is the lesser of two evils also a failure?He wasn't sure.How far has he traveled on this road?

Light came from a narrow door in the far wall.Someone was watching him secretly, he suppressed the feeling of being watched, ignored the unpleasant and ominous smell, walked into the doorway, and came to a small room.By Freeman standards, the place was pretty bare, save for slow tents on two walls.A man sat facing the door on a crimson cushion.A woman's figure looms on the bare wall behind a door on the left. Visions seized Paul.The future is developing along this path.But why didn't the dwarf appear in the phantom?Why does this bias occur? At a glance, the senses have already explored the situation of the entire room clearly.Although the place is simply furnished, it is carefully maintained.Hooks and brackets on one wall indicate that curtains once hung there.Paul knew that pilgrims would pay top dollar for authentic Freeman artifacts.Wealthy pilgrims regarded the desert tapestry as a treasure, as a memorial of pilgrimage.

The freshly plastered plaster on the bare walls seemed to accuse Paul of his crimes.The remaining two walls were hung with tattered slow tents, which further enhanced his sense of guilt. On a narrow shelf against the wall to his right was a row of portraits, mostly bearded Fremen, some in still suits with water pipes hanging, others in Imperial uniform, The setting is a bizarre alien world.The most common view is the sea. The Freeman sitting on the cushion cleared his throat, and Paul looked back at him.This man was Osem, exactly as he had seen in the vision: the thin neck was as slender as a bird's neck, and it seemed too weak to support the huge head; the two sides of the face were extremely asymmetrical and disfigured ——Scars spread across the left cheek like spider webs, while the skin on the other side was intact; the drooping and moist eyes showed sincere eyes, and they were a pair of Fremen's blue-to-blue eyes.A large, anchor-like nose divided the face in two.

Ortham's cushions were in the center of a brown rug.The rug was very old, showing many threads of sorrel and gold.The upholstery was full of scuffed spots and patches, but every little bit of metal around the upholstery had been polished to a shiny finish—the portrait holder, the bookshelf frame and legs, the base of a low square table to the right, and so on. Paul nodded to the good side of Osham's face and said, "Nice to meet you, and your place." It was the usual greeting for old friends and cave mates. "I see you again, Yusuke." The voice that spoke the name of Paul's tribe had the trill of an old man.On the disfigured side of the face, the dull, drooping eyes lifted from the parchment-dry skin and scars.There was gray stubble remaining on this side of the face, and rough flakes of dander hung on the chin.As he spoke, Osem's mouth twisted, revealing his silver metal dentures.

"Muaddi will never ignore the call of Freeman's death squad," Paul said. The woman hiding in the shadow of the doorway moved, and said, "That's what Stilgar is boasting about." She stepped into the light.Her appearance is very similar to the Likana that the face-changer pretended to be.Paul remembered that Otham had married the sisters.She had gray hair, a witch's sharp nose, and a weaver's callus on her forefinger and thumb.In cave days, a Fremen woman would proudly display the marks of labor on her hands.But now, when she caught Paul staring at her hand, she quickly tucked it under her pale blue robe. Paul remembered her name, Dolly.But to his surprise, he remembered her as a child, not as she appeared in his vision now.It was because of the whining tone in her voice, Paul told himself, that she had liked to complain since she was a child. "You met me here," said Paul. "If Stilgar doesn't agree, can I come here?" He turned to Osem. "I have your water debt on me, Osem. Order me." This is the straight-forward way of talking between brothers in Freeman's Cave. Osem nodded weakly, a gesture that obviously took a toll on his slender neck.He raised his left hand with the sign of a good life, pointing to the ruined half of his face, "I contracted split skin disease on Tulla Hell, Yuso." He gasped, "Just in victory Afterwards, when we all..." A sharp cough stopped him. "People from the tribe will come to collect the water in his body soon." Du Li said.She came up to Ossem, put a pillow behind him, and held his shoulders until the cough passed.Paul found that she was not very old, but her mouth was full of despair, and her eyes were full of pain. "I'll get some doctors for him," Paul said. Du Li turned her head and put one hand on her hip, "We have a doctor, as good as your doctor." She subconsciously glanced at the bare wall on the left. Good doctors are very expensive, Paul thought. He felt restless.Visions oppressed his mind tightly, but he was still aware of the slight deviation between visions and reality.How does he take advantage of these biases?The future is like a mess, and when it becomes reality, there will always be some subtle changes, but the future that has not yet been realized is still the same, uncoordinated, and frustrating.The future was taking shape in this room, but he was acutely aware that if he tried to break the mold that was forming here, it would turn into horrific violence.Realizing this, Paul was horrified.The flow from the future to the reality seems to be unhurried, gentle and gentle, but there is an irresistible force in it, which makes him breathless. "Tell me what you want from me," he said aloud. "Couldn't Ortham ask for a friend to stand by his side at a time like this?" asked Dolly. "Isn't a Freeman knave obliged to leave his body at the disposal of strangers?" We're comrades in Teb's Cave, Paul reminded himself, and she has every right to chide me for my indifference. "I'm willing to do my best," Paul said. Ortham coughed again.When he calmed down, he gasped and said, "You have been betrayed, Yoso. The Fremen plot against you." Then his mouth fell open, but no sound came out.Foam gushes from the lips.Du Li wiped his mouth with the corner of her robe. Paul saw the exasperation on her face: the water was wasted. Paul was outraged.Osem had come to such a fate!A Freeman death squad deserved a better ending.But now there was no choice—neither the Expendables nor his Emperor had a choice.This is Occam's razor: all the chaos has been cut away, leaving only the most basic elements, opposing each other, either one or the other.A slight deviation will bring endless horror.Terror is not just for them, but for all of humanity, even those bent on destroying them. Paul tried his best to calm himself down and looked at Du Li.She stared at Otham with a look of despair and hope that made Paul's heart tighten.Never let Jani look at me like that, he told himself. "Likana said you had a message," said Paul. "My dwarf," gasped Osem, "I bought him, on...on...on a planet...I can't remember his name. A discarded plaything of the Trealax. All the names recorded on him...of the rebels..." Osem paused, trembling. "You mentioned Likana," said Dolly. "As soon as you got here, we knew she had arrived at you safely. If you think this is a new debt placed on you by Osem, Likana is The full amount required to pay this debt. A fair deal, and let her return safely, Yuso. Take that dwarf, and let's go." Paul suppressed a shiver and closed his eyes.Likana!The real daughter has turned into a mummy in the desert, destroyed by Samuta's drug, and abandoned in the wind and sand.Paul opened his eyes and said, "You could have come to me anytime, for anything..." "Osem avoids you on purpose so that others may take him for one of those people who hate you, Yusok," said Dolly. "It's south of our house, at the end of the street, that Where your enemies meet. That's why we chose this shabby room." "Then call that dwarf, and we'll go together, and leave immediately," Paul said. "It seems that you didn't understand me." Du Li said. "You must take this dwarf to a safe place," said Ossem, with a sudden burst of strange force in his voice. "He carried with him the only record of all the rebels. No one guessed that he With talent like that. They thought I kept him just for fun." "We can't go," said Dooley, "only you and the dwarf. Everyone knows... how poor we are. We've already let the word out that we're going to sell the dwarf. They'll see you as a buyer. That's Your only chance." Paul examined the illusion in his memory: in the illusion, he left here with the list of rebels, but he still couldn't see how the list was taken away.Apparently some other kind of precognition protected the dwarf from seeing.Paul thought that all creatures must have their own destiny, but various forces are distorting this destiny, and under various guidance and arrangements, it finally deviates.From the moment the jihad chose him, he felt the overwhelming power of the masses surround him and control his direction.He still retains a glimmer of the illusion of free will, but it amounts to nothing more than a hopeless prisoner shaking his cage in vain.His curse was this: he saw the cage.He saw it! He listened carefully to what was going on in the house: there were only four people—Dorley, Otham, the dwarf, and himself.He breathed the fear and tension of his companions, he sensed his own men hiding in the shadows, the orthopter hovering in the distance...and others...just next door. I made a mistake and shouldn't have hoped, Paul thought.But the very illusion of hope gave him a twisted tinge of hope.He felt that he might still be able to seize a fleeting opportunity. "Call the dwarf," he said. "Bigas!" Du Li called. "You called me?" The dwarf came in from the backyard with a worried and alert expression on his face. "You have a new master, Bigas," Du Li said.She stared at Paul, "You can call him... Youso." "Yousuo, the meaning of the bottom of the pillar." Bigas translated the meaning by himself, "How could Yousuo be the bottom? I am the lowest level of life." "He always talks like that," Osem said apologetically. "I don't speak," Bigas said. "I just operate a machine called language. It's creaky and crumbling, but it's my own." A plaything made by a Trealax, but very learned and very alert, Paul thought.Trealax had never discarded such a precious thing.He turned away, thinking about the dwarf.The other party's round spice blue eyes stared blankly at him. "What other talents do you have, Bigas?" Paul asked. "I know when we should leave," Bigas said. "Very few people have that talent. Everything has an end—knowing it is the beginning of something else. Let's get started." , Time to hit the road, Yuso." Paul checked again the precognitive vision he kept in his memory: there was no dwarf, but the little man was right. "You called me Your Majesty at the door just now," said Paul. "That means you know who I am?" "Didn't I already call you Your Majesty, Your Majesty?" said Bigas, grinning. "You're more than a corner stone. You're Emperor Atreides, Paul Muad'dib. And, you're mine. Finger." He held out the index finger of his right hand. "Bigas!" Du Li snapped, "Don't play with fire, don't play with fate." "I'm just juggling my fingers," Bigas protested, his voice creaking.He pointed at Yousuo, "I pointed at Yousuo. Isn't my finger Yusuo himself? Or, does it represent something lower than the cornerstone?" With a mocking smile, he took his finger Go to the front of your eyes and look carefully, first at one side, then at the other side, "Aha, so it's just a finger." "He's always like this, muttering and babbling," Dolly said, with worry in her voice. "I think that's why Trealax abandoned him." "I don't like being protected like a master," Bigas said, "but now I have a new master. This finger is really useful." He looked at Dolly and Osem , eyes sparkling strangely, "The glue that holds us together is not very strong. A few tears and we are apart." The dwarf spun a 180-degree circle, facing Paul, Padfoot The floor creaked. "Ah, my master! What a long way I have traveled to find you at last." Paul nodded. "Will you be merciful, Yuso?" asked Bigas. "I am a human being, as you know, of all shapes and sizes, and the one standing before you is one of them. I am not muscular." , but my mouth is very strong; I don't eat much, but it takes a lot of work to fill it up. Do as you please, and I'm not afraid to empty me out. I always have dry food in my stomach, which is better than what you send in Much more feed." "We don't have time to listen to your stupid one-liners." Du Li snapped, "You should go." "My one-liners are all puns," Bigas said, "and they're not entirely stupid. Go, Yusok, that's what it means to be dead. Is it? Let the dead go, then." Du Li told the truth in one word, and I happen to have the ability to hear the truth." "So you can perceive truth?" Paul asked.He decided to wait until the moment when he set off in his phantom.It's better to do whatever you want than to break the established future timeline and come up with a new ending.In his vision, Osem still had something to say, unless the future had changed and entered a more dire tunnel. "I can sense the present," Bigas said. Paul noticed that the dwarf was getting more and more nervous.Did the villain realize what was going to happen next?Could Bigas also have the ability to predict, and it is this ability to predict that he did not appear in his vision? "Have you asked about Likana?" asked Osem suddenly, fixing Dolly with one of his good eyes. "Likana is safe." Du Li said. Paul ducked his head to hide his expression, lest they see that he was lying.Safety!Likana has been turned to ashes and buried in a secret tomb. "That's good," Osem said, mistaking Paul's bow for approval. "There's some good news among all the bad stuff, Yusok. I don't like the world we've created, you know?" ?It was better when we lived freely in the desert than now, when our enemies were only the Harkonny family." "Many so-called friends and enemies have only a thin line," Bigas said. "When the line is drawn, nothing begins and nothing ends. Let's end the line, my friend." Friends." He walked over to Paul, shifting his feet nervously. "What did you mean when you said you could sense the present?" Paul asked.He wanted to stall for as long as possible, to prod the dwarf. "Now!" Bigas trembled, "Let's go now! Let's go now!" He grabbed Paul's robe, "Let's go now!" "He's a jerk, a lot of chatter, but no malice," said Otham, lovingly in his voice, his good eye fixed on Bigas. "Even a broken mouth can signal the departure," Bigas said. "Tears will do. Let's do it while there's still time to start over." "Bigas, what are you afraid of?" Paul asked. "I'm afraid of the ghost that's looking for me," muttered Bigas.A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his cheeks were twisted, "I'm afraid of that thing that doesn't want anything, nobody, but only thinks about me - that thing retracts again! I'm afraid of what I can see , and also afraid of what I cannot see." The gnome does have precognitive powers, Paul thought.Like him, Bigas saw that dire future.Was his fate the same as his?How strong is this gnome's predictive magic?Like the guys who mess around with the Dune Tarot?Or far more powerful?How much did he see? "You'd better leave now," Du Li said, "Bigas was right." "Every minute of our stay," Bigas said, "was procrastinating . . . procrastinating the present!" But for me, every minute of delay brings my sins one minute too late, Paul thought.He remembered the past that happened a long time ago: the sandworm exhaled bursts of poisonous gas, and the sand fell from its teeth one by one.The nose smelled the breath in memory again: bitter and astringent.The destined sandworm was waiting for him, and he could sense, sense the so-called "burial place in the desert". "Hard times," he said, answering Otham's remark about changing times. "The Fremen know what to do in tough times," Dooley said. Osem nodded feebly in agreement. Paul glanced at Dolly.He did not expect gratitude from others, and his burden was already heavy enough to bear gratitude no longer.But Osem's pain and the resentment in Dolly's eyes shake his resolve.Is it worth paying such a big price? "There's no point in delaying it," Du Li said. "Do what you have to do, Yuso," panted Osem. Paul sighed.In his vision, these words appeared. "There will always be an end to everything," he said, completing the dialogue in the vision.He turned around and strode out of the room, only to hear Bigas's crackling footsteps following behind. "Gone, gone," Bigas muttered as he walked, "Gone people and things, let them go where they should go. What a day."